Hillary Clinton Confronts an Aggressive Heckler Seeking Comment on Joe Biden’s ‘Warmongering’ Speech

Hillary Clinton had an intense exchange with a heckler persistently demanding her to denounce President Joe Biden's "warmongering" speech. On Monday, October 23, 2023, the former Secretary of State was at Columbia University for a speaking engagement when an aggressive heckler amplified his voice. 

The 75-year-old was a guest panel at Columbia University's "Making Human Rights Come Alive: The UDHR at 75" event on the prestigious occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The heckler interrupted, "Can you please...can you make a statement about President Joe Biden's speech? This is a clearly warmongering speech." 

While Clinton was discussing international human rights violations with her co-panelist, former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet, a young man kept pushing her, calling out the 'hypocrisy' and demanding her comment on the POTUS's recent speech seeking funding for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine. 

He screamed, "President Joe Biden is calling for $100 billion of funding for Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine," adding, "And we're supposed to just bundle these together and pretend like we're going to rush to World War III, and we're all just going to let Hillary Rodham Clinton sit here." 

The American diplomat snapped, "This is not the way to have a conversation," adding, "You're welcome to come [to] talk to me afterward." The young heckler asked, "Ok, right. You're going to wait for me, right? Please, I do not believe you." But, the exchange heated up, and the heckler refused to budge. 

He insisted, "Respectfully, I do not believe you. And the fact of the matter is that the American people's voice is what needs to be heard because… because our president is not speaking for the American people, and neither are you." The point of conflict was Biden's speech requesting funds for the "war-inflicted" countries, like Israel and Ukraine.  

At the White House, the Democrat addressed the nation in a primetime speech requesting more than $105 billion from Congress to support the security needs of Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and the U.S. southern border, reported CNBC. Additionally, he's asking for $14.3 billion for Israel, another $2 billion for Taiwan, and over $9 million for humanitarian assistance. 

Biden said, "American alliances are what keep us, America, safe. American values are what make it a partner that other nations want to work with." He continued, "That's why tomorrow I'm going to send Congress an urgent budget request to fund America's national security needs to support our critical partners, including Israel and Ukraine."

The young heckler stressed that Biden is facilitating a possible World War III. However, Clinton shouted, "Well, then sit down! We heard your opinion. Thank you very much." The argument escalated as the young heckler screamed his right to free speech. Clinton snapped, "But it's not free speech when you're disrupting everybody else's opportunity to speak," reported Fox News.

He kept demanding a comment, and the confrontation stretched over 3 minutes. The young man was determined to disrupt the panel; however, he was quieted down by other panelists who argued that they had risked their lives, income, and reputation to work for humanitarian causes, asking the heckler, "What have you done?"